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Theory of B.F. Skinner
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Theory of B.F. Skinner
Burrhus Frederic Skinner is well known for introducing the theory of behaviorism. He was a psychologist in the United States and laid the foundation for a natural science of behavior in the early 1930s. Skinner was the first to comprehend the divergence of Pavlov’s classical conditioning and Thorndike’s instrumental conditioning (Mackintosh 1990). Skinner’s work of instrumental conditioning, also referred as operant conditioning was based on law of effect given by Thorndike. Due to his experiments with rats and their behaviors, we now know more about human behaviors, and the application of operant conditioning. Further, he is also known as the creator of operant conditioning. This process reflects that ways in, which animals and humans behave in a particular manner to obtain rewards and avoid punishment. According to his theory, pleasant results led to repetition of behavior presented before, and unpleasant results minimize the repetition of that particular behavior. Skinner used to do experiments by utilizing animals to study operant conditioning, he used to place animals (rats) in a box also known as “Skinner box”, which was similar to puzzle box of Thorndike. Further, he recognized 3 responses, which led to this behavior, written as follows:
Neutral operant: Reactions or responses, which do not change the probability of repetition of that behavior.
Reinforces: Responses, which effect the probability of repetition of behavior by increasing it. These can be further classified into positive and negative.
Punishers: Reactions from others, which decreases the probability of repetition of behavior. Punishments wanes behavior
Positive Reinforcement
Skinner presented the method functioned by putting a starved rat in his designed box. Lever was present on the side of box, and as the rat starts moving in the box, it would accidently hit the lever, which enables a food pallet to fall into the bowl beside the lever.
The rat speedily observed the pattern, and moved towards the lever whenever it was placed in the box. The result of getting food immediately after the lever is being pressed reflected their repeated behavior of doing the same every time; they are being put to the Skinner box.
This method strengthened a behavior by providing the result, which an individual may find pleasing. This can be understood through the example, if a child is given $5 dollar for doing his or her homework ,which is considered rewarding by him/her, then it is more likely that he/she might repeat his/her behavior of finishing the homework ,thus strengthening the behavior to do the same in the future.
Negative Reinforcement
Reduction in unpleasant reinforce can also support and strengthen the specified behavior. This method is termed as negative reinforcement because eliminating an unpleasant reaction could...